PANOLA COUNTY, Miss. — The indictment for suspect Quinton Tellis comes 14 months after the death of Jessica Chambers. She was fatally set on fire along a county road.
WREG spoke with both Chambers’ mother and father after the district attorney and investigators announced the indictment for capital murder.
“I’m still numb,” Jessica’s mother, Lisa Chambers, said.
After all this time, investigators believe they know who lit Chambers’ daughter on fire and killed her.
“I know that God is working,” she said.
The Chambers family said they plan to see Tellis’ court proceedings through.
Despite a source telling WREG suspect Quinton Tellis and Jessica reportedly dated, both of Jessica’s parents said they have never heard of him.
“I’ve heard people say Quin, but I mean we have several people named Quin,” Lisa Chambers said.
“I don’t know nothing about him. I didn’t even know who he was until today. Never seen him, never talked to him. I don’t know nothing about him or anything,” Jessica’s father, Ben Chambers, said.
Chambers’ sister, AJ Prince, said she went to school with Tellis.
“Honestly, I was shocked when I heard the name,” she said. Prince told WREG she never heard her sister talk about him.
The man who used to work as a clerk at the gas station, who was working when video captured some of Jessica’s final moments, told WREG Tellis used to come by almost everyday.
He did not have a clear reason to believe Tellis had the potential to be violent.
District Attorney John Champion said Tellis is reportedly a gang member, but he does not believe that played a role in Jessica’s murder.
Still, Wednesday’s news made the Chambers family feel one step closer to justice for Jessica.
“I just want to thank them and the DA and everybody for all the hard work they’ve done, you know. They said some day it would come and it did,” Ben Chambers said.
Prince runs the Justice for Jessica Facebook page, which has more than 162,000 likes. She said she is “beyond thankful” for all the support.
It could be awhile before Tellis is back in Panola County to face the capital murder charge.
Champion said Tellis needs to finish court proceedings for a separate case in Louisiana before he comes back here to face the Chambers family.
In Louisiana, he is accused of using a homicide victim’s bank card.
